Perhaps the most pleasurable way to see Myanmar, feel its pulse, live its legends and understand its history, is to travel the Ayeyarwady River. While enjoying the river's tranquility, life on the riverbank offers endless fascination. 
From the small teak and bamboo dwellings, home to the excited children who run along the riverbank and the women purposefully going about their daily chores, to the ox carts cultivating fields, a river cruise gives a unique insight into the way of life of the country. Elegant monasteries rise above canopied trees, and ruined ancient temples reveal a wealth of historic treasures.
The Ayeyarwady River still remains Myanmar's lifeline, the people and economy ever dependent on its vital natural source. Ferries, bamboo rafts, barges and fishing boats, all ply their trade along these waters, at a slow relaxed pace - there is no need to hurry in Myanmar. Over the centuries Myanmar has developed around the banks of this mighty river making it the ideal vantage point from which to experience this once isolated nation.

The Chindwin

Compared to the Ayeyarwaddy, always considered the ‘Mother River’ of Myanmar, the Chindwin comes up short at 600 miles to the Ayeyarwaddy's 1350 miles. However, she is the biggest tributary of the mighty Ayeyarwaddy and spills her strength into the longer river at a place not far from Mandalay, an old city that is the heart of Myanmar. What she lacks in length however, she makes up in spectacular scenery of lush jungles and sheer cliffs, misty-blue mountains and charming towns and villages, proudly running through a region of abundant natural resources and fertile meadows. Although the upper reaches are narrow and bordered closely with mountains, with few villages set far from each other the lower parts are more populated with mountains standing as a blue-purple backdrop in the distance.

Yangon

Surrounded on three sides by water, Yangon has a unique charm with its old colonial buildings, tree lined streets, bustling markets and tranquil lakes. Pagodas glisten among trees and houses and at the heart of Yangon is the mighty Shwedagon Pagoda…always bustling with people who come to worship, picnic, read or simply quietly absorb the surroundings. "The Shwedagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a sudden hope in the dark night of the soul….." wrote Somerset Maugham. One of the most magnificent monuments on earth, and said to date from the 11th century, the stupa is plated with more than 8,000 solid gold slabs and its tip is set with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and topaz. The Shwedagon is surrounded by more than 100 smaller stupas, pavilions and halls. Yangon, as the capital city of Myanmar, is a thriving sea port which is fast-changing with new buildings and busy streets as you would expect from a newly-emerging international city. Other attractions include a selection of smaller pagodas, an intriguing national museum, and traditional markets which are worth a browse. The city can be comfortably visited in a day or two, allowing more time for exploring the richer sites of Mandalay and Bagan.

Bagan

Some 5,000 monuments, a testament to Bagan as a former centre of Buddhist spirituality and learning, are scattered over the 42 square kilometres of the Ayeyarwady River.  The kings of Burma from 1044 to 1287 devoted their energy and considerable resources to building pagodas and temples. While their great palaces which were built of wood have since burnt down or crumbled away, hundreds of temples and pagodas remain on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River.  As a World Heritage Site, Bagan stands alongside the other great centres of South East Asia, comparable only to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  Framed on both sides by the great Ayeyarwady River, the main concentration of monuments is around the original city on the bend of the river. No two monuments are the same. All are highly original in design and conception. Bagan cannot fail to move you. Ask any visitor who has witnessed the sun rise or set across these fields of glowing temples. The temples are now empty.  Sacked by man or felled by nature, the great communities of chanting monks and reverberating bells have moved on. In its place is calmness and peace, and a vision of wonder at how man was capable of creating such a vast city of spiritual monuments.

Mandalay

Built along side the Ayeyarwady River, Mandalay combines Myanmar's royal history and the preservation of spiritual traditions. The royal heritage can be found at the Golden Palace Monastery with its exquisite wood carvings. The spiritual heart is enshrined at Mahamuni pagoda, housing the most venerated Buddha statue in Mandalay. The large seated image is so greatly revered that layer upon layer of gold leaf, placed as a mark of homage by a ceaseless flow of worshippers, have distorted the true shape of the statue. Only the highly polished face, gazing serenely is untouched. With its wood-carving, stone sculpting, gold-leaf-making and cheroot rolling, Mandalay comes across as a kind of huge oriental bazaar. The shopping hub of upper Myanmar, this is where the colourful hill tribes come together and mingle with the townspeople. The nearby Sagaing Hill provides stunning panoramic views. The pagoda-studded hill at Sagaing ranks as one of the most imposing sights in the whole of Myanmar, with the view also taking in the Ayeyarwady River itself - a reminder of how the river serves as the very lifeline connecting all the major sights Myanmar has to offer.